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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24222919">A Girl And A Box</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/amandaithink/pseuds/amandaithink'>amandaithink</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who (2005)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst with a Happy Ending, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary, Episode Fix-It: The Day of the Doctor, F/M, Implied/Referenced Torture, but nothing graphic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:47:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>9,768</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24222919</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/amandaithink/pseuds/amandaithink</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"According to Time Lord legend, the weapon became sentient. But when? Which happened first? The sentience or the weapon? The being or the box?"</em>
</p><p>A 50th anniversary special fix-it fic.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eleventh Doctor/Rose Tyler, Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, The Doctor (Doctor Who)/Rose Tyler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>345</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Girl And A Box</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This sat in my WIP folder for awhile, and then the other day I woke up and suddenly knew how it ended. Sometimes that happens.</p><p>Special thanks to <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/more1weasley">more1weasley</a> for betaing and offering amazing suggestions! I, of course, ended up messing with it afterwards - so all mistakes are most definitely mine.</p><p>As always, I own nothing.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The interface gave him a big red button in the shape of a rose. It had told him that they thought they were called 'Rose Tyler'. He wondered if it meant something. Perhaps a future him would understand, and he finds himself wishing that The Moment hadn't shushed him earlier when he could, <em> would</em>, have asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You wanted a big red button<em> , </em> " it told him. "One big bang, no more Time Lords. No more Daleks. Are you sure?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I was sure when I came here. There is no other way."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You've seen the men you will become."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Those men. Extraordinary," he had to admit.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"They were you," it pointed out.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No. They are the Doctor," he corrected.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You're the Doctor, too."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>On this point, he had to point out her error. "No. Great men are forged in fire. It is the privilege of lesser men to light the flame, whatever the cost." As he moved to press the button, he paused.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You know the sound the TARDIS makes?" the Moment asked. "That wheezing, groaning. That sound brings hope wherever it goes."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Yes. Yes, I like to think it does."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"To anyone who hears it, Doctor. Anyone, however lost." And it just so happened that that very sound began to pierce through the air. "Even you," it added with a smile, as if it … cared.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>She watched as the two TARDISes materialized. Two of her Doctors and Clara emerged and she couldn't help but grin.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I told you," Clara was saying, "he hasn't done it yet."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Go away now, all of you. This is for me."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Poor Doctor.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"These events should be time-locked," another of her Doctors pointed out. "We shouldn't even be here."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"So something let us through," countered her other Doctor.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You clever boys." She smiled. They were here.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Go back," insisted the Doctor in front of her button. "Go back to your lives. Go and be the Doctor that I could never be. Make it worthwhile."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"All those years, burying you in my memory."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Pretending you didn't exist. Keeping you a secret, even from myself."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Pretending you weren't the Doctor, when you were the Doctor more than anybody else."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You were the Doctor on the day it wasn't possible to get it right."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"But this time-" started her striped Doctor.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You don't have to do it alone," her Doctor in purple finished. And then all of them had a hand on that big red button. </p><p> </p><p>She frowned.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Thank you," said her Doctor who had fought for much too long.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What we do today is not out of fear or hatred. It is done because there is no other way," announced her Doctor with the great hair.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And it is done in the name of the many lives we are failing to save," added her Doctor in the bowtie, before he looked over to the same spot she was - at Clara. "What? What is it? What?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Nothing." She knew that Clara was lying, she could tell even without a line into her head.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No, it's something," her floppy haired Doctor insisted. "Tell me."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You told me you wiped out your own people. I just- I never pictured <em> you </em> doing it, that's all,” Clara told him.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Take a closer look," she said, that being all the warning she gave before plunging them into the darkness and horror of the war playing out above and around them. Here but yet not here.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What's happening?" Clara asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Nothing. It's just a projection," her Doctor the soldier explained.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"It's a reality around you," she insisted.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"These are the people you're going to burn?" Clara looked horrified, and rightly so.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"There isn't anything we can do," said her Doctor in brown.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"He's right," agreed her green eyed Doctor, "there isn't another way. There never was. Either I destroy my own people or let the universe burn."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Look at you. The three of you," Clara gazed upon them and so did she. "The warrior, the hero, and you."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And what am I?" her confused Doctor asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Have you really forgotten?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Yes. Maybe, yes."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"We've got enough warriors," Clara explained. "Any old idiot can be a hero."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Then what do I do?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What you've always done. Be a doctor. You told me the name you chose was a promise. What was the promise?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Never cruel or cowardly," her Doctor in the suit recited.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Never give up, never give in," continued her battle ragged Doctor.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She removed the vision of war. They were ready.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>"You're not actually suggesting that we change our own personal history?" his future self with the horrible shoes asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"We change history all the time," the future him that looked like a child waved it off. "I'm suggesting far worse."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What, exactly?" he asked, finding himself full of equal parts dread and excitement.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Gentlemen, I have had four hundred years to think about this. I've changed my mind," his future self declared before sending the button back into the casing with a flick of his sonic screwdriver.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"There's still a billion billion Daleks up there, attacking."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Yeah, there is. There is," the oldest him agreed, still looking confident and apparently in charge for some reason.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"But there's something those billion billion Daleks don't know," his other older self seemed to have caught on.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Because if they did," the eldest him seemed quite pleased with himself - himselves?, "they'd probably send for reinforcements."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What?" Clara asked. "What don't they know?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"This time, there's three of us."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The answer was staring him in the face this entire time, and apparently it would take him hundreds of years to figure that out. It was a very large blow to his ego, but he chose to give himself the smallest amount of credit - after all, <em> they </em>weren't in the middle of fighting the Time War. In comparison, his future selves were lazing about living the easy life. He didn't devote too much time on that, though, because <em> they had the answer</em>.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh! Oh, yes, that is good. That is brilliant!" he exclaimed.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, oh, oh, I'm getting that too!" the obnoxiously pretty him grew excited. "That is brilliant!"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Ha, ha, ha! I've been thinking about it for centuries."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He turned to the Interface - the <em> Bad Wolf</em>, and it's expression alone was somehow conveying '<em>how many Doctors does it take to end the Time War?'</em>. That, or it - <em> she </em> - was using a very subtle form of telepathy - he somehow wouldn't put it past her. He turned back to the group.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"She didn't just show me any old future, she showed me exactly the future I needed to see." He couldn't believe it. They wouldn't have to burn. The planet. The people. The children. He hadn’t felt this much <em> joy </em> in ages - longer than he could count.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Eh? Who did?" He could vaguely hear the gangly future him asking.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>“Now you’re gettin’ it,” she laughed.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, Bad Wolf girl, I could kiss you," he told her, so happy he was getting caught up in the moment - literally.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Yeah, that's going to happen," she joked. Because she <em> was </em> a she. Not just a weapon that had developed a conscience. She was a whole <em> person</em>, who was funny and smart and seemed to genuinely <em> care</em>.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Sorry, did you just say Bad Wolf?" The very brown him looked shocked. He was suddenly reminded of the fact that she was from <em> his future</em>. If this him knew her, the older one must too. They might be able to understand.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"So what are we doing? What's the plan?" Clara interrupted his pondering. It was unfortunate, because he really needed to make sure they would remember in time. If this woman knew his future selves, yet had been converted into the most powerful weapon in existence back in Ancient Gallifrey ... that was most certainly <em> a problem</em>. But it was a very busy day.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"The Dalek fleets are surrounding Gallifrey, firing on it constantly," he began to explain to his future companion, one whose timeline was <em> impossibly </em> tied throughout the entirety of his.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"The Sky Trench is holding, but what if the whole planet just disappeared?" the him in what he realized was a very recent future continued. His glimpse at Clara's timeline, more so than even that him’s own guess at his age - those were always shoddy at best, had accidentally revealed that it hadn't even been a decade for this man since he thought he'd ended it all.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Tiny bit of an ask," said Clara.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"The Daleks would be firing on each other," future him continued to explain. "They'd destroy themselves in their own crossfire."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Gallifrey would be gone, the Daleks would be destroyed, and it would look to the rest of the universe as if they'd annihilated each other," he finished.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"But where would Gallifrey be?" Clara asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Frozen. Frozen in an instant of time, safe and hidden away," the man who was apparently his tenth self told her.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Exactly," the eleventh him began.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Like a painting," he ended the sentence. He had just figured it out. The perfect time to force his memories of the Bad Wolf to unlock.<br/>
<br/>
</p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>They were going to save Gallifrey. The youngest him ran off to his TARDIS and suddenly there was another Very Important Thing to deal with.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Clara, give us a moment, would you?" the Doctor asked before giggling. "Hah! A <em> Moment</em>, get it? Wasn't even on purpose. That's quite good."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"It's really not," his previous self felt the need to chime in.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Ignoring him, the Doctor stepped up to the deceptively small box and lightly tapped a corner with his finger. "Hello, Interface. Wakey wakey!"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What are you doing?" Clara asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"This is The Moment. It's sentient. I - <em> we </em> - have some questions. His," he told her, pointing at the last him, "memories unlocked the moment - hah! - War me closed the door of his TARDIS behind him. So he has some, but <em> I've </em> had hundreds of years to think about it, so the first thing I want to know is this: According to Time Lord legend, the weapon <em> became sentient</em>. But when? Which happened first? The sentience or the weapon? The being or the box? I need to know, you see."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And why's that?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Everyone's eyes darted to the far corner of the barn. Leaning against the wall, the Interface still wore the face of Rose Tyler. The Bad Wolf. A message to lead her back to <em> him</em>. Sandshoes staggered backwards, and the Doctor knew what he was thinking, <em> feeling</em>. The memories were coming back much more quickly now.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Because it matters. Will you tell me?" he asked it, her, them ... he wasn't sure.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"That depends. Are you attempting to use me?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No, but I might be able to help you."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I think it's supposed to be the other way around," the Moment replied with a smirk.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You said you chose this form," the younger him said. "Especially for me. Him. The me who just left. What made you choose this one in particular?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I've traveled with a lot of people. All of them were - are - important," the Doctor supplied.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"So which would be your second choice? Can you show us that?" his previous self continued.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The Moment tilted her head, smirk changing to a soft grin. "Both."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I'm sorry?" the Doctor questioned, scrunching up his eyebrows.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"It's both, I think. I create myself. Myself is a weapon, technically. I'm not sure about the box. I'm just the operating system. I don't decide the casing."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"<em>I create myself</em>," his tenth incarnation whispered, eyes wide and face even paler as the same scene repeated in each of their heads.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p><em> I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself</em>.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And the desktop? The interface? I could touch you. Hard light hologram? Teleporting telepathic flesh avatar?" the Doctor continued questioning.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"If I change it, I can't change it back. Won't change it back. Something like that."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And why's that?" the other him asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Because it would burn."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The last him reeled away as if he actually <em> had </em> been burned, and for the Doctor it was a near thing.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You can feel pain?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He had honestly forgotten that Clara was still there, but she asked the question, walking up to the Interface as she did.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I can feel lots of feelings. Outside feelings and inside feelings. Why do you think I didn't want to destroy Gallifrey?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Because it would hurt you?" Clara hazarded.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"It would, yes, but more importantly it would hurt <em> him</em>. I want my Doctor safe. <em> All </em> of them," she explained. Definitely <em> she</em>. He was almost sure of it.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"<em>Rose</em>," his last self choked out, looking about ready to fall apart. But he couldn't fall apart, not yet. Not now.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The Moment waved her fingers at him and then used one to beckon him toward her. She was telepathic. She knew.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Let's give those two a- a bit of time," he said to Clara, ushering her over to his TARDIS.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Okay, but ... are we leaving now, or-"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No, not yet. Can't trust him. He misses her too much."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And you don't?" she queried with a raised eyebrow.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I'm better at it. I've been missing Rose Tyler for centuries now. He's barely made it a few years and is already starting to crack. We'll give him five, maybe ten minutes. I don't remember."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Clara crossed her arms with a huff. The Doctor knew she had questions, tons of questions, and was just grateful that she was waiting to ask them.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Future him and Clara walked off, but he could tell they hadn't gone far. That was fine. It didn't matter. All that mattered was <em> her</em>. Rose. The Moment. The Bad Wolf. It didn't matter what name she was going by, it was <em> her</em>. But <em> how </em> could it be her?<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Miss me already?" she asked him, cupping his cheek as soon as he had gotten close enough.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"So, so much," he told her, voice cracking. Try as he might, he just couldn't seem to reign in his emotions. He would be embarrassed if it was anyone else. Still was embarrassed, to be honest.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And you're alone." It wasn't a question.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I- yes."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You can't be alone, Doctor. You need to find someone."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"But- but they're not <em> you</em>."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No, but that doesn't change the fact that you needed someone. Will need someone. You're rubbish on your own."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"How did this happen?" he asked, ignoring the chastisement. "You were in the parallel universe with- with him. The other other me. The metacrisis."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Yes. I will be. Was. Am. One of those."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What happened to him?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Humans don't live forever, Doctor. You know this. It's why you ran. Run."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And you're not- ?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She shook her head, a sad smile gracing her beautiful face.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, <em> Rose</em>. I am so sorry." A tear slipped down his cheek, completely out of his control.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"It's a great life, just like you wanted. Just not quite how you imagined it being. 'S like switching places, lifespan-wise. Or maybe not. Will you go out and find someone?" she asked, changing the subject back.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I can't," the Doctor admitted. It hurt too much. After her, after Donna ... he couldn't bear being the cause of any more pain to those he cared about.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Then what I'm about to say, I need you to forget until the moment you regenerate. Then I'll need you to forget it again shortly after you remember. Can you do that for me, Doctor?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Anything. I'll do anything. Rose Tyler, I-"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She placed a finger over his lips.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Not now. Now you're going to listen. You'll regenerate. You know, you've just met him. The man you will become. And I need you to promise when you do that you'll do better. You'll get out of the TARDIS and you bring aboard the first person, alien, anyone who wants to go and you take them and be fantastic. Promise?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I promise," he whispered, finally raising his hand to rest it against her cheek. "I love you."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Quite right, too."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The Doctor let out a noise partway between a chuckle and a groan, and then future him and Clara walked back in.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Alrighty then!" Bowtie him exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "Did we all have a good catch up? A nice chat? Big things afoot, planet saving to do. I know we can travel in time, but dawdle too long and we'll put it off for centuries, am I right? Yes, so, Pinstripes off to your ship. I'll just grab this," he continued, picking up the box with a laboured grunt, "and we'll all skedaddle. Got it? Good."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Why you?" the Doctor asked. "Why can't I take her?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You have other things to worry about. Trust me, I've been there. This whole box removal thing, this is for us grown ups."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You're calling yourself a grown up?" Clara scoffed, and Rose - <em> The Moment </em> - laughed.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Relative. Relatively grown up. It'll all be fine. You'll be here eventually. But until then, Gallifrey is waiting."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He was right. Of course he was, they were the same person. The Doctor let out a long breath, clenching his fists as he did so. They could do this, <em> he </em> would do this. For her.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>They'd done it. They'd saved Gallifrey ... he hoped. Now he and Clara were having celebratory tea with his past selves in the National Gallery. It wasn't normally the kind of thing he did, prolonging the temporal disturbance of having so many of him in the same time and place for something as trivial as <em> tea </em> ... but it felt right. They had earned this.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I don't suppose we'll know if we actually succeeded," the him now fresh from the Time War commented. "But at worst, we failed doing the right thing, as opposed to succeeding in doing the wrong."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Life and soul, you are," he heard Clara respond, but couldn't be bothered to pay too much attention. His eyes kept finding themselves drawn to the painting, and his mind kept wandering to the box sitting on the floor of his TARDIS.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What is it actually called?" his last self asked, also fixated on the painting.<br/>
 </p><p>"Well, there's some debate," he answered. "Either <em> No More </em> or <em> Gallifrey Falls</em>."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Not very encouraging," the warrior Doctor frowned.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"How did it get here?" asked the other him.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No idea."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"There's always something we don't know isn't there?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"One should certainly hope so. Well, gentlemen, it has been an honour and a privilege," his youngest self said, standing to leave. The Doctor couldn't help but be excited for him. He knew who he was about to meet. In just a few months his life - <em> lives </em> - would change forever.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Likewise," replied the him who, the Doctor knew for a fact, was also now thinking of Rose Tyler.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Doctor," he agreed, proudly bestowing their name. Their title.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And if I grow to be half the man that you are, Clara Oswald, I shall be happy indeed," the scruffy past him said, turning to say farewell to his companion.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"That's right," she said. "Aim high."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I won't remember this, will I?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"The time streams are out of sync. You can't retain it, no," he pointed out, even though as soon as the words were out of his mouth he realized that the question was probably rhetorical. Wistful. Too late now.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"So I won't remember that I tried to save Gallifrey rather than burn it. I'll have to live with that. But for now, for this moment, I am the Doctor again. Thank you.” The youngest him paused as he took in the sight of their three TARDISes lined up next to each other - the same TARDIS, all at different points in their shared timeline. “Which one is mine? Ha!"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>With that, the him from the Time War left and the Doctor finally remembered what had actually caused him to regenerate. Old age, something he never expected anymore … and the perfect way for him to forget in peace. Oh, yes, he would have to live with that and his Rose would make sure that he became who he was today.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I won't remember either, so you might as well tell me," his more recent past piped in now that the other one was gone, shaking him out of his thoughts.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Tell you what?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Where it is we're going that you don't want to talk about."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I saw Trenzalore, where we're buried," he admitted. "We die in battle among millions."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"That's not how it's supposed to be," past him oh so helpfully pointed out.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"That's how the story ends. Nothing we can do about it. Trenzalore is where you're going."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, never say nothing. Anyway, good to know my future is in safe hands,” his last self said, before turning to his companion. “Keep a tight hold on it, Clara." And that was goodbye - and of course that him wouldn’t actually say the words, would he?<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"On it," Clara smiled, and the him in pinstripes kissed her hand.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Trenzalore. We need a new destination, because I don't want to go," the other him said. It occurred to the Doctor that he must have already forgotten about the Moment. It was probably better that way.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"He always says that," the Doctor informed Clara as the other TARDIS disappeared, leaving just him and Clara. Still, so much to do.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Need a moment alone with your painting?" she asked him.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"How did you know?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Those big sad eyes."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Ah." Not really flattering, but there it was.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I always know. Oh, by the way," she said as she began to head toward the TARDIS, "there was an old man looking for you. I think it was the curator."</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It wasn't too long before the Doctor came back. Clara had spent most of her time alone in the TARDIS just staring at the box, the Moment. It was confusing. She knew there was some sort of person inside there, but when she had tried to get her to come back out nothing had happened. No mysterious girl anywhere in the console room, at least not that she could tell.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Alright Clara, Ancient Mesopotamia awaits!" he announced as he bounded over to the console.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I don't think so," she said, crossing her arms and giving the box a pointed look.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, that should keep. We can still have an adventure," he told her, though his gaze never left the thing once he'd laid his eyes on it.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No. I think she's probably waited long enough, don't you?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Right, right," the Doctor muttered, slowly making his way over to what was supposedly a super powerful Time Lord weapon before kneeling before it.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Who is she? Or, I guess, who <em> was </em> she? She looked so familiar."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I'm sure she would. You've been through my time stream, so of course you've seen her."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No ... I mean, that too, but I think she looks familiar like someone I've seen properly. Like around London or something."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"That's ... yeah, I suppose that too. She was - is - from London, around the same time as you. Her name is Rose Tyler."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"From the missing posters!" Clara suddenly exclaimed.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What?!"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"She didn't live too far from me. Girl from Powell Estates? Went missing back in 2005? Gone a whole year. It was on the news, there were flyers everywhere. I started carrying around a thing of pepper spray, I thought she might have been abducted."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, that is just - I'll have you know that it really should have been twelve hours! I set the coordinates myself," he sputtered.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Wait, <em> you </em> abducted her?!"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I did not abduct her! We just ... went travelling. And not me, me either. Two me's ago, now."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Well at least you've gotten better at driving," she decided. "So, Rose Tyler, what happened to her? Is that who the Bad Wolf is?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"It's a long story. One even longer than I know, apparently."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"How did you get her to come out of that thing and talk? I was trying while you were still at the gallery, but nothing."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"That would be the interface relay. It's telepathic. Tuned specifically for Time Lords, I'm guessing." He moved as if to touch the box, but then his hand froze midair and he slowly pulled it back.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What is it?" she asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I ... I don't know."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Scared?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Am not," he replied a little too quickly.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"It's okay that you're scared."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I think I'd like to be alone for this," he admitted. "Is that okay?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"That's fine. Today was a pretty big adventure anyway," she told him, dropping down to sit next to him and bumping his shoulder. His answering smile was a little forced, but still something. "We can do Ancient Mesopotamia and all that next Wednesday. I was promised cocktails on the moon, don't think I'll forget."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, I don't doubt it," he said, finally standing up and holding out a hand so that she could follow. They fell into silence as he began moving about the console, taking her home. Clara watched him as his eyes kept drifting over to the box, trying to decipher the expression on his face when he did. It didn't take long for the TARDIS to land, and she knew that her house would be just outside the doors.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Doctor?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Hmm?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"The Moment ... do you think she's still Rose Tyler as well? Even now?" she asked him.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I- I've been wondering that myself," he said.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I hope she is."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Why's that?" he asked, looking confused.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Because, I think you loved her. Still love her. You know what? Tenses <em> are </em> hard when it comes to you."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What makes you say that?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"It's those big sad eyes again," she told him with a small smile, before grabbing the handles of her bike and slowly turning it toward the doors. "Does she know? Have you told her?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"She- of course she knows."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The Doctor looked a little too sheepish for Clara's liking. "You need to tell her."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Don't you have papers to grade or something? Shoo," the Doctor said, a full on evasion as he opened the TARDIS doors for her.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Clara rolled her eyes as she left the ship. By the time she turned around, it was dematerializing. If he didn't tell her, she'd know when she saw him on Wednesday.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>He was now hidden away in the Vortex. Just him and a box. Two boxes, actually.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em> Stuck between a girl and a box. Story of your life, eh, Doctor? </em><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The memory played in his head and he had to smile a little. Now it was time to find out what had happened, and if there was anything he could do to help.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Rise and shine," he managed to choke out, finding himself much more emotional now that he didn't have to keep it together for his past self and didn't have the Time War to worry about. He stroked the side of the intricately crafted box sitting next to him on the floor, and immediately noticed something appear out of the corner of his eye. When he looked up, there she was, sitting on one of the jump seats and looking quite comfortable.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Long time no see," she said, stretching her arms up above her. The Doctor wasn't sure he wanted to know if she was joking or not, as Time very well could pass inside the machine differently.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I still have questions," he said, but didn't ask them. No, instead he found himself standing up and jerking her off of the chair to wrap her in a crushing hug. It didn't take long for her to reciprocate, clinging to him just as tightly as he was to her. Then they all caught up to him, the depth of the emotional memories his past self had repressed, and he found himself sobbing into her torn up shirt as he held on for dear life. She didn't seem to mind, which was good, because it took him much too long to pull himself back together. In that time she never let go of him, just stroked the back of his head and continually whispered to him that everything was alright - and even though he knew that 'alright' was just a clever lie, things did start to feel a little less not-alright.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You said- you told other me that the metacrisis died," he managed, once he'd finally re-found the off switch for his leaky eyes. "How did he die?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Old age, actually. We'd been retired for a long time. Well, I didn't have to retire, but it was no fun running around if he couldn't. They were our golden years, the complete time and space pleasure cruise. It really was a fantastic life," she soothed, still holding on to him as if he might break down again at any moment. Who knows, maybe she was right?<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"But after- you were in a parallel universe and-"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Travel between the two eventually became possible again," she pointed out, and he wanted to smack himself because that should have been obvious after what they had just done.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"But how long were you there? What happened to your family?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, it's hard to say," she answered, voice still so soothing. The shapes she was now making on his shoulder with a finger were almost hypnotic. "It gets hard to keep track of that kind of stuff. You should know. He told me, you know. About how he's been just guessing at his age for hundreds of years now. But my parents lived long and happy lives, and Tony grew old as well. He had a family, but I didn't really see them much. It's kind of a lot, having a sister that never ages. The other you, my husband-" A white hot surge of jealousy passed through the Doctor as she gave him that title. "-he lived much longer than a normal human would have. We had centuries together, but when the time came he didn't have any regenerations."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I'm so sorry," he whispered into her ear.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I'm not. We lived. We ran. It was wonderful. Is wonderful. It's all still happening you know. All of it, all at once. And we're so in love."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Of course," he said, words tasting like ash on his tongue as he finally pulled away from her. "But what happened next? Because I doubt human-me was the one who turned you into a weapon from Gallifrey's distant past."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Yes, that. That's not a happy story."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I didn't think it would be."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"When you hear it, your hearts will break."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I still need to hear it," he told her.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And you will. But not now. That's for later. This is the part where you remember that I'm still trapped in the box."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Right!" He shot back up to his feet, pulling out his sonic screwdriver as he did so. The Doctor scanned both Rose and the Moment's casing. The results were not good. Telepathic field generators and artron energy converters operating at maximum capacity to steadily funnel the Time Vortex through her while also bending her Will and Timeline to that of The User. Quantum restraints were keeping those things in place, and a chrono-teleportation matrix tied the whole thing into what was effectively an infinite prison on the inside. He was loath to admit it, but he wouldn't mind having three of him again.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I don't know about that," Rose laughed, obviously having caught that last thought (probably all of them, actually, but he'd worry about that later). "How many Doctors did it take to open a door?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Is this how it's going to be now? Constantly being teased whenever I miss something that you think is obvious?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"London Eye."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You're right, this is how it's always been. But they've got you well and truly stuck in there, Rose Tyler. Giving myself more time to do the maths wouldn't hurt."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You're wrong," she said, leaning back and crossing her legs.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Excuse me?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"This form, it isn't Rose Tyler," she explained. "I told you, the you who was going to burn them. I'm the Bad Wolf."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>The Bad Wolf. <em> The Bad Wolf</em>. Rose and the TARDIS, combined. The TARDIS that they just so happened to be inside right now, drifting through the Vortex. The same Time Vortex that was raging through the Moment.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I have to reroute the energy flows! Reverse the polarity!" he shouted, running to the console. "Convince both of your energy converters that they're operating in crossed directions. The TARDIS, she's part of you right now and will have to compensate and pull the matrix into her systems! Then BANG! Your casing will be forced to merge with the TARDIS and then recoding and turning off all of it's systems will be easy-peezy."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Is that so?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You betcha!"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And where will I be, when all of this is happening?" she asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I'm not quite sure about that part," he admitted with a wince. But then again ... "You should know, though. You have all of Time and Space running through your head. You saw all of this, so what happens?" he asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"The Time Vortex is taken out of me. I become just Rose Tyler again. You removed the genetic locking mechanisms and then we ran. Or will do. But Rose forgets. What it was like, I mean. To be the Moment. Becoming the Moment. Any of it. Billions of years of a life that was really only a half life. But it's better that way."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"So you're okay with that?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"An eternity alone in a box, shifting through the Timelines? This is almost going to be like retirement," she answered, disappearing only to reappear next to him by the console.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"When did you become Bad Wolf again? How long after ..."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"My husband died?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Yes."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"About two or three decades. Why?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"So she was already hundreds of years old."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"So?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Just thinking out loud, sorry. Is there anything else? Anything you need to tell me before you forget?" he asked urgently.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Just one thing. One very important thing." She reached up and cupped his cheek and the Doctor leaned into the touch. "I love you," the Bad Wolf told him right before their lips met in a chaste kiss, which he found himself deepening. A Goddess of Time, the love of his lives and his beautiful, sexy ship after everything they've done for him ...<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Why?" he asked suddenly, breaking the kiss. "Everything we've been through, all that you've done, why did we have to be separated for so long?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"To become who we needed to be," she answered.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"But the metacrisis-"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Was you," she pointed out. "A you who finally got what he'd wanted for so long and would never admit. Don't think I didn't recognize what all the bluster was about, going on and on about <em> domestics</em>." The Bad Wolf - Rose, so much Rose, as they were one - laughed and smiled that smile that made him want to start snogging her again. "Methinks the Doctor doth protest too much."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And after?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"I've seen all that is, was, and will be. What could happen, what must happen, and what can never be. The Time War ends."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em> The Time War ends. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>She had said this before, glowing with the light of time, so long ago yet thousands of years in the future but somehow all at once just like she said. All of it, all at once.</p><p> </p><p>"You saved Gallifrey." It came out in a whisper.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"<em>We </em> saved Gallifrey."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He crushed her into his arms. Everything had happened exactly as it needed to, so that she could give him <em> this</em>. Not only did Rose Tyler heal him when he thought he had destroyed his planet and everyone on it, but she made sure that he wouldn't have to. And gave him her forever. Not all in one go, but still.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Are you ready?" she asked him, after an amount of time that he just couldn't be bothered to determine.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"As I'll ever be," he replied, finally letting go. It was time.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>He raced about the console before running back over to the Moment's casing and hooking it up to the TARDIS. He sonicked the box, starting the polarity reversal and then raced back to the console to do the rest. All the while the Doctor was aware of the Bad Wolf watching him with a knowing smile, even though he was trying not to look. He couldn't afford to be distracted. As soon as it all started working, she collapsed onto the floor. The Doctor gritted his teeth as the TARDIS shook about. They had both known this was going to happen, he had to keep going.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Eventually, the ship stabilized and the Moment's casing slowly melded into the ship before seeming to disappear completely. It was nearly silent then, apart from the TARDIS' hum and the sound of his fingers furiously typing on the vintage keyboard attached to the console. Then finally, <em> finally</em>, it was done. A clean transfer, an erasure of protocols. The Doctor pushed himself away from the console with so much force that he nearly stumbled over and fell on his face as he quickly went to Rose. Within moments he had her scooped into his arms and was racing toward the infirmary.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She had to be okay. She just <em> had to</em>.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>She was drifting. Everything seemed dense, like she was floating deep under water. She could hear a voice that was familiar, yet not. The words sounded muffled and far away, she couldn't make them out. It was nice, though, and she let them lull her back into the nothingness.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p><em> They were going to catch her. Had caught her. She had ran, was running, for so long. They needed her for something, and she didn't know what that was. It couldn't be good, though, not if they were willing to go through so much just to capture her. Once they locked her up, there was no way for her to escape. It was impossible. But that didn't stop her from trying. And then they brought her to the Laboratory. They brought her there, and she wished that they had killed her instead before she realized that that's </em> exactly <em> what they were doing. In between the pain, she wished for the Doctor. Any Doctor, but most often the one she had married. But there was no one to save her. She was all alone. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> Her husband had admitted to her, one night when neither of them could sleep, that he had never really liked his people much. Now she understood why, and it went a bit beyond just 'not liking'. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> Eventually, Rose knew that she was dying every day. Maybe even multiple times a day. Because every time she did, the Wolf came out. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> Then they would bring her back from the brink. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> Because they didn't want </em> her <em> , not really. They wanted the Bad Wolf. That's who they were studying. Every so often they would talk when they thought she was still unconscious. Someone called Omega was building weapons, and she was supposed to be one of them. They would turn the Bad Wolf into a weapon and there was nothing she could do about it. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> It was a long time before she started begging. Decades, if she were to guess. Not only had Rose been trained by both Torchwood and UNIT, but she had travelled with her husband for centuries. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> When she did start begging, it wasn't even for her own freedom. It was for the Doctor. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> "Who is the Doctor?" one of her captors had asked her. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> She had told them that the Doctor was a Time Lord. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> Another had responded, "Not yet, I should think." </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> After that, Rose stopped speaking. She would die, be resurrected, and die again in a never ending loop. Day, after day, after day. She was surprised that she could still feel pain, but it always hurt. Every time. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p>Rose opened her eyes with a start, and was immediately blinded.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"-like some sort of vampires!" A voice exclaimed to her left. It was familiar, yet not. She didn't move. No one had ever spoken so freely around her before. "I may have gotten momentarily distracted. See, they were actually alien fish, but they had once been girls and still looked like girls and they were in their night clothes but I don't know why I'm telling you this, so let's just skip that part. Barely got myself out of there, but made it back to Amy and Rory, who, as you could guess, weren't having the romantic date-y times I had been trying for when I landed in Venice. You know how it is-"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She tuned whoever it was out as her vision started coming back. There were a few rows of bright lights above her that slowly began to dim. Soon the rest of the room came into focus. It wasn't the same Laboratory that she had been in before, but it did look a little familiar. A bit more like a hospital, but not quite. Rose quickly squashed down the hope that someone had gotten her out of there. There was no one who would have known to even look for her, and according to her captors they were in one of the most secure and hidden places on Gallifrey.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"-hiding out in his house, trying to come up with a plan. Come to find out, the barrels we were sitting on were actually-"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She slowly moved her eyes to the side, trying to get a glimpse of whoever it was that was speaking. He had brown floppy hair, and was wearing a purple jacket, bowtie, and a waistcoat with a pocket watch pinned to it. This, more than whatever it was he was saying (which was apparently accompanied by sweeping hand gestures that sent him careening around on the wheely chair he was sitting on), convinced her that she truly wasn't in the Laboratory anymore. But this meant she had no idea where she was now, or what had happened to get her here. Before she could decide what to do about any of it, the man's eyes locked onto hers.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Rose! You're awake! Thank goodness!"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"How do you know my name?" she asked, voice hoarse - barely a whisper - from going however long it had been without speaking.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Shh shh, it's okay, drink this," he said, quickly sliding over to her on his chair with a teal drink that had a pink swirly straw. When she sipped it, it tasted like a mixture between a pineapple and pickle. Ugh. The last time she had drank something like this-<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"D- Doctor?" she asked, mouth gaping. Rose didn't realize that she had dropped the glass until it crashed onto the floor, spilling what was left of the gross alien nutrition-hydration drink.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Yup, that's me," he said with a watery grin, trying and failing to pop the 'P' the way the last him she knew had.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"H- how-"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"That's a long story," he told her, handing her another drink, "and there are parts of it you were technically there for, but won't remember. And I promise, I'll tell you the whole thing. But maybe after you get some proper rest?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Did it have something to do with vampires in Venice?" Rose asked. The drink <em> was </em> making her throat feel a lot better, despite it's horrible taste, but her eyes were already beginning to droop.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No, no. That's a different story. I was catching you up on everything you missed," the Doctor explained, pushing his chair right up next to where she was lying on an exam bed. He hesitantly placed his palm over her cheek and she couldn't help but lean into the touch. Encouraged, he began to card his fingers through her hair.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Did I miss a lot, then?" she asked, eyes slowly falling shut even though she was trying so hard to keep them open.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, maybe ... but we've got all the time in the world to catch up," he assured her.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"So ... what happens next?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She knows that he started talking again, but the words were lost to her as sleep claimed her once again.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p><em> Sometimes she forgot who she was. Had been. Will be. Tenses were hard, when Time and Reality were beginning to lose all meaning. All she knew was that it had been too long since she had felt the sunlight on her skin. That was all she wanted now. To feel the sunlight. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> Existence was narrowed down to fleeting moments of numbness in between long bouts of pain. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> Other times she remembered. When she remembered, Rose wished she could go back to forgetting. Remembering just made it hurt all the more. Visions of dark leather and a Northern accent, of brown pinstripes and plimsoles, and a very particular shade of blue. Those filled her with longing. Then there was the phantom, always in a blue suit with a single pulse. He would whisper to her words of encouragement and echoes of deceptive hope. But she couldn't fight anymore, could barely open her eyes. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> He always told her that she was doing so well. That he was proud of her. That it would all be alright. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> "How?" she wanted to ask, but she didn't have the strength to make the word come out and she knew that he wasn't </em> real <em> anyway. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p><em> "We're always alright, you and I," he had answered her anyway, but the voice was wrong. </em> <em><br/>
<br/>
</em></p><p>"-always. It's okay, Rose. Just wake up."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Rose slowly opened her eyes and it took her a few moments to remember where she was. Not the Laboratory. She was on the TARDIS, with the Doctor - a new new new Doctor.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Hello," he smiled above her, looking relieved.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>She felt very comfortable, more comfortable than she'd been in ages - <em> centuries</em>, if she had to guess. He had moved her, she realized. No longer was she on a medical table, but in a bed - <em> his </em> bed, Rose noticed once the fog of sleep had completely lifted. So many thoughts were crowding around in her head, it took her even longer to remember that she still hadn't spoken. A burst of pain flashed at the thought that she wasn't used to talking anymore.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Hi there," she finally managed.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"You were having a nightmare," he informed her. "I thought you'd want to wake up."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Y-yeah," she sighed. The nightmares weren't likely to go away anytime soon, but that didn't seem like something she could tell him. Guilt and the Doctor were old friends, after all, and Rose couldn't bear to watch him blame himself for this as well. Especially when she still didn't know what was going on. "We're in your room," she commented instead.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Is that okay?" he asked, looking sheepish and suddenly very engrossed in twiddling with his hands.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Mmhmm. How long has it been?" she asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Since ... uhm ..."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Bad Wolf Bay. The second time," she clarified, watching guilt and sadness enter his eyes before he sat down heavily on his bed next to her. Rose wanted to lift herself up and sit next to him, hold his hand, but she wasn't sure if she would be strong enough to lift herself up. It had been so long since she had used her muscles.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, hundreds of years. A lifetime ago. I've lost track, tried to forget. Not that it ever worked, mind you."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh," was all she could say to that.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Whatever had happened, however she’d gotten here, it probably wasn't anything he had wanted. Hundreds of years, he probably had had loads of different companions in that time. Now here she was, a blast from the past. It had been as long, maybe even longer, for her but she still remembered when they had ran into Sarah Jane. The Doctor had left them both now, and a parallel world was a bit more permanent a goodbye than Aberdeen. He was probably waiting to say farewell again (not that he had actually even said the words, the last time, just walked away without looking back), likely once he thought she was healthy enough to leave the ship. Rose didn't know when that would be, but until then she did still need answers.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"How did I get here, anyway?" she asked.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Ah, right, yes. This is going to be very timey-wimey, and I don't know a lot about what happened on your end, but yes - oh! One second!" he leapt off the bed and disappeared through a door only to return a few minutes later rolling out a giant whiteboard. Rose lifted an eyebrow as he uncapped a black marker before immediately tossing it in the bin by his desk. "That smelled like licorice. Eww."<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Unable to hold it in, she giggled softly. It felt unnatural. The Doctor ignored her, shaking his head and digging in his pockets until he found a blue one.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What's that one smell like, then?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Arulian Starberries," he told her, sounding very pleased.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"And you're not gonna lick it?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oi! I'll have you know, Rose Tyler, that I have much more self control now. Just you wait. Now, pay attention," he began before putting his old gob to shame in a rambling, <em> impossible </em> story of how they had apparently saved Gallifrey. It was about ten minutes into the story before he realized that his starberry scented marker was not, in fact, designed to be used on whiteboards. This was followed by a lot of stuttering, the Doctor acting as if this had been on purpose, and then many sweeping gestures toward things already on the board, mainly the section titled 'Dramatis Personae' like they were in English class where he had listed: <em> Me, Idiot me with the hair, Old young war me, Clara, Liz I, Zygon Liz I, Kate L.S. from UNIT, Zygon Kate </em> and <em> Bad Wolf you</em>.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>When he got to the part where all of the Doctors and Clara - his latest companion, she had figured out on her own - were now all on Gallifrey despite the Time Lock, she had to stop him. He had been rambling on for over an hour now, constantly going off on tangents.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"What?" he asked. "Did I lose you somewhere?"<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"No, no ... at least, I don't think so. Just need a quick break. Think I've gotta use the loo." It was mortifying that she hadn't placed the sensation sooner, because she'd been uncomfortable for awhile now. It had just been a really long time since her bodily functions weren't handled by machines.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>"Oh, of course. By all means. Class dismissed for recess!" he announced.<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Slowly, Rose lifted herself up and was surprised that her muscles weren't protesting in the slightest. Maybe the explanation for that was coming eventually as well. It didn't take her long to get back from the ensuite, and she gestured for him to start back up again once she sat back onto the bed. Having her actions as the Bad Wolf told to her while having no corresponding memories made her just as uncomfortable now as it had when her husband had finally explained everything that had happened at the Gamestation.</p><p> </p><p>Before the Doctor resumed his tale, he plopped a tea tray onto her lap. Somehow she wasn’t surprised at it just being a cuppa and a plate of biscuits, rather than an actual meal. Rose smiled, picking up a Jammy Dodger as he began talking about the Bad Wolf, or the Moment, or … whoever she did not remember being. It was all a little too much, but she tried not to let it affect her. She needed to pay attention. This was <em> important</em>.</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>It took awhile for him to properly explain everything. He wasn’t sure how well he was doing on that front, either. Rose barely asked any questions, which might be a good sign but she had also barely eaten any of her food. The Doctor worried that she was still too exhausted, that this was all too much too soon. It was hard for him to tell, not knowing what to expect from whatever the Time Vortex had done to her all those many, many years ago.</p><p> </p><p>When he finally finished the story, he sat down haphazardly on the end of the bed, landing hard and causing the mattress to bounce, nearly knocking over her tray. At least, he now noticed, she had finished her tea. Good, good, that was a good sign.</p><p> </p><p>“Wow,” was all Rose said, the single word only slightly louder than a whisper.</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” he agreed, not knowing what else to say. The Bad Wolf had told him that Rose’s story wasn’t a happy one. That it would break his hearts. And at some point, he knew, he would have to hear it - would <em> need </em> to hear it.</p><p> </p><p>At some point.</p><p> </p><p>Not now.</p><p> </p><p>“So, Rose Tyler,” he said, relishing the way her name felt rolling off of his tongue, “fancy a trip?”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh?” she laughed a little, leaning back against his headboard. The Doctor did not think he would ever be able to forget the picture she made, lying in his bed. </p><p> </p><p>Why had he moved her here, again? Well, it had been because he wasn’t sure about her room. Whether the TARDIS had kept it or not. And then he hadn’t wanted to know the answer - neither one would have been helpful, really. To see a snapshot of his life - <em> their </em> life - frozen in time … or to see how completely he had tried to forget her. To forget <em> them</em>. </p><p> </p><p>It took him a bit to realize that he was just staring at her. He quickly snapped himself out of it.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes! All of Time and Space to choose from. Any and every star in the sky. What do you say?”</p><p> </p><p>“Think I might need a shower first,” Rose told him, illustrating her point as she tried and failed to run her fingers through her knotted hair.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, good! Excellent! Shower and then something spectacular!” the Doctor exclaimed, leaping off of his bed and running toward the door before abruptly skidding to a halt. Normally he would go to the console room. Pick out a destination, get the TARDIS ready for flight. But the idea of being in a different room than her sent shivers down his spine.</p><p> </p><p>“Doctor?”</p><p> </p><p>He turned around. She had slipped out of bed, but hadn’t gotten any farther than that. And it was ridiculous, he was being ridiculous. They were on the TARDIS. Everything was fine. </p><p> </p><p>“Nothing, nothing. Just, uhm, forgot my-” he blindingly grabbed for something, and held it up with a smile he hoped was convincing, “- this.”</p><p> </p><p>Rose looked skeptical, to say the least. “A hair dryer?”</p><p> </p><p>The Doctor looked and it was, in fact, a hair dryer. “Well, er … need to use it to, you know, re-establish the chrono-nano-thermal-pressure regulator. Very important. See you in a bit!” He waved before rushing out of his own room.</p><p> </p><p>Once he reached the console room, he carelessly tossed the hair dryer aside. Of all the bloody things to have grabbed, really. Why did he have a hair dryer in his room anyway? What good was a hair dryer? Well, maybe if you needed your hair dried quickly, but <em> he </em> didn’t need that. There was a setting on the sonic for that. If anything, hair dryers just made things more difficult, interfering with his-</p><p> </p><p>Oh. Right. Yes, he had been trying to fix the sonic. Why couldn’t he have remembered that earlier, instead of making up some TARDIS part? Did he make up a TARDIS part? Or was that an actual system? He walked up to the console to check, and glanced at their current coordinates in the process. His hands stilled.</p><p> </p><p>Once he had successfully separated Rose from the Moment’s casing - her <em> prison</em>, and oh how he wished there was some sort of retribution he could enact for <em> that </em> - the Doctor had blindly sent them to drift in open space. It had been thoughtless, or so it had seemed at the time when all he had been focused on was making sure that it had worked and that Rose was okay. Apparently he had been more aware of what he was doing than even he had given himself credit for.</p><p> </p><p>He staggered over to the doors, opening them with a snap of his fingers before sitting down with an inelegant thud. It had been a long, <em> long </em> day. One that he could never have anticipated happening in all of his centuries. Every time the Doctor thought he knew what was possible and what was decidedly impossible, he was always proven wrong - usually to his detriment. This time, however, he was so glad for it. He dangled his feet into open space, staring ahead as he finally took the time to process everything. After awhile - he had lost track of the exact time, a very rare occurrence - he heard someone coming up behind him.</p><p> </p><p><em> Rose</em>. <em> Rose Tyler </em> was <em> here</em>. </p><p> </p><p>“Where are we?” she asked, taking a seat next to him.</p><p> </p><p>Her hair was different. Her eyes were older. There was so much the two of them would have to catch up on. But she was wearing her old clothes, and he hadn’t even realized the TARDIS had saved them. Then again, of course she would have - she always knew best, really. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s … it’s a nebula. Don’t know what it’s name would be, though I’m sure it has one. Or dozens. We could find out,” he suggested, turning to her with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“You don’t already know? That’s a shock,” Rose laughed before looking out at the vast pink clouds in front of them.</p><p> </p><p>“Well, I- it exists because of me. Because of <em> us</em>, really.”</p><p> </p><p>“Us?” She turned away from the breathtaking view, solely focused on him now.</p><p> </p><p>“I burned up a sun,” the Doctor choked out. So much time spent trying to forget, and look where he was now?</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.”</p><p> </p><p>There was so much they needed to say to each other still, so much that had happened in between a beach on a parallel world and a deserted barn on Gallifrey. But they would have plenty of time for all of that. He would make sure of it. So the Doctor said the only thing he could think of that mattered. The only question in the Universe that needed to be answered.</p><p> </p><p>“How long are you going to stay with me?”</p><p> </p><p>The light from the nebula - <em> her </em> nebula - bathed Rose Tyler with an ethereal glow. She was pink and yellow and <em> fantastic</em>.</p><p> </p><p>She took his hand, and for the first time in <em> centuries </em> the Doctor felt like all of time and space was open before him as she answered, “Forever.” </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading!<br/>Kudos are always appreciated, and I would LOVE to hear your feedback!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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